M|group – Prominent Representative of Georgian Hospitality Industry Managing Six Different Projects
The tourism and hospitality industry plays a significant role in the economic development of the country, a process which is essential for Georgia, where tourism represents an increasingly important component of the country's economy.
There are several companies operating in this field in Georgia, contributing to its economic growth and creating a decent image among international travelers, boasting many years’ experience, and JSC Hotels and Restaurants Management Group – m|group is distinguished among them for its diverse and trustworthy service.
Founded in 2005, JSC m|group is considered as one of the front-runners in the hospitality industry in Georgia. Over 14 years of experience and hard work, the company has gained the trust of its consumers.
Currently, it manages 6 projects with various concepts and price policies in Tbilisi and Kakheti (Kvareli).
As a leader in the Georgian HoReCa sector, m|group was the first among CIS countries to obtain the ISO9001:2008 certificate in quality management system under the HACCP concept in 2008, and then the ISO 22000:2005 certificate in 2017.
GEORGIA TODAY spoke to the representatives of m|group, Ana Bokeria, Deputy General Director in PR, Marketing, Sales and Business Development, and Natia Metreveli, the Head of the Sales and Marketing Department, to find out more about the company’s service and its contribution to encouraging the tourism sector in the country.
Ana: JSC Hotels and Restaurants Management Group – m|group already boasts 15 years’ experience in the hospitality industry. The company is distinguished with its commitment and loyalty to quality standards. Our team is always focused on maintaining and improving the standards we’ve achieved throughout years.
m|group is distinguished with its diverse service. At this stage, it counts six locations and facilities. Could you tell us about them?
Currently, the company manages 5 facilities in Tbilisi and one in Kvareli, a town in the Kakheti region of Georgia.
Bread House
Among the facilities located in Tbilisi, the Georgian traditional restaurant Bread House is noteworthy, characterized by a distinctive and authentic interior and consisting of three halls called ‘Satone’, ‘Salonuri’ and ‘Satavado.’
The restaurant amazes its guests with delightful national cuisine- one can taste the unique local dishes and delicious bread bakes. Most importantly, Bread House cares for preserving the local traditions and introducing them to travelers from all over the world.
Once you enter Bread House, you will find yourself in the ‘Satone,’ a hall with a Georgian bakery. Long Kakhetian Shoti (traditional Georgian bread with an unforgettable flavor and taste) is baked in front of the guests directly, in a traditional deep clay oven called ‘Tone’.
Most importantly, if you have never baked Georgian bread at least once in your life, any interested guest is welcome to take part in the process, which is especially attractive and exciting for foreign visitors of the restaurant.
Live Georgian music can be heard in the halls every evening. In summer, you can chill outside on the terrace, enjoy Georgian wine and the beautiful view of Old Tbilisi.
Guests have the rare opportunity to taste the ‘Treasure of the Georgian Feast’ dishes. This is m|group’s project, launched in 2010, which involved searching for indigenous Georgian dishes, recipes and rules of preparation, in order to save them from oblivion and to preserve these traditions for future generations. As the result of those expeditions, up to 150 rules of preparation of traditional Georgian dishes, the recipes of which were preserved among the elderly of the regions, were restored. Guests can taste up to 30 of those dishes only in m|group’s chain of restaurants.
Georgia has the oldest and most unique winemaking traditions. At Bread House, guests have an opportunity to taste a small selection of local wines in the wine cellar that is located within the venue.
Bread House is located in the beautiful district of Old Tbilisi, at 7 Gorgasali Street. There are 145 seats in the restaurant. It works every day, from 12:00 to 01:00.
Maspindzelo!
Next to Bread House, yet another distinctive facility of m|group, restaurant Maspindzelo!, is located, where food enthusiasts can sample the tastiest Khinkali in Tbilisi.
This is a “Sakhinkle” restaurant with timely and abundant service. The exotic energy of Imereti can be felt in the eclectic interior of the restaurant. The tastiest family dishes and a long-preserved tradition of Georgian hospitability will inspire you to visit Maspindzelo! again and again.
Maspindzelo!, just like Bread House, is located in Old Tbilisi, at 7 Vakhtang Gorgasali Street. There are 100 seats in the restaurant. Its door are open for guests 24/7, so they can visit the facility any time to enjoy the hospitable environment and extremely delicious dishes.
Otium
Natia: One of the most distinguished facilities of m|group is Otium, a restaurant located near Turtle Lake, at the edge of a forest. The venue becomes even more attractive in summer and spring, when it is surrounded with abundant greenery. This is a place where you can breathe fresh air, enjoy the evening with live music or attend a concert of various Georgian and foreign musicians. The concerts and performances of resident DJs and bands are held every weekend and most weekends, so Otium is perfect destination for youth to have an unforgettable time with friends.
The modern interior of the restaurant, equipped with all essential technical gear and a big, beautiful garden yard near the forest make Otium an ideal venue for carrying out a wide range of activities, from weddings, birthday celebrations, and business meetings to art exhibitions and individual or corporate events, since it can easily adapt to any taste or desire.
It offers a wide variety of special Georgian and European dishes, prepared by highly qualified chefs.
Otium has a terrace offering beautiful views over Tbilisi, where guests can enjoy famous Georgian barbeque, Mtsvadi, and special Shoti bread in summer. They can also watch the process of preparing these dishes in the open kitchen showroom.
There are up to 300 seats in the restaurant. In addition, it has quite a big garden, so that the entire space of these two venues can be united and used for relatively large-scale events. For instance, we recently celebrated the 5th birthday of SPAR, the supermarket chain, at Otium, and hosted about 500 people. So, the space is big enough and it perfectly fits any customer demand.
Every year, we have a special guest at Otium – the Embassy of Switzerland. They have been celebrating their National Day at Otium for three years now. The events of various embassies, corporate parties, and weddings are often held at the restaurant. It is the perfect place for a romantic and beautiful wedding. We also welcome any type of exhibition and conference at our venue.
Otium is located on Turtle Lake Alley and receives guests daily from 12:00 until the last guest leaves.
In the Shadow of Metekhi
The restaurant In the Shadow of Metekhi is also one of the special venues of our company, distinguished by its historic concept.
Its interior is based on the play with the same name, ‘In the Shadow of Metekhi’. Accordingly, here, the entire atmosphere and interior reflect the theater.
It offers a cozy ambience along with wonders of local cuisine, which makes the venue the perfect place to take your foreign guests and allow them to discover the authentic Georgian soul.
From the windows of the restaurant and vast veranda, one can enjoy the breathtaking view of Old Tbilisi and River Mtkvari. Due to its location, the restaurant is quite popular among foreigners, who want to explore the old part of the city and enjoy its wonderful sights.
Here, visitors are welcome to enjoy Georgian national songs and dances on a daily basis.
There are 5 individual thematic rooms of different concept in the restaurant, which represent the different parts of ancient Georgia: ‘Papakhiani’ (man with traditional hat) with the concept of 18th-19th century Georgia; ‘Monadire’ (hunter), where a stone fireplace, historic wine vessels and other details create an ancient Georgian mood; ‘Old Tbilisi’ - interior of 19th-20th century Tbilisi; while the ‘Kasabi’ (butcher) and ‘Asian’ rooms are for guests with any taste and interest.
In the Shadow of Metekhi is the only restaurant in Georgia with the HACCP Concept Certificate and ISO Certificate 22000:2005.
This year, the restaurant received the online magazine Lux Life’s Global Hospitality prestigious award in the category ‘Most Authentic Georgian Restaurant.’
The restaurant is located in the historic district of Tbilisi, Avlabari, at 29 Ketevan Tsamebuli Avenue. It can serve up to 200 guests. The working hours are 12:00 – 01:00.
Natia: Restaurant Ubani is the newly established facility of m|group. It was opened in September 2019 to meet customer needs and demand. Open 24/7, guests can come late at night, after having fun at night clubs, to relax and taste delicious Georgian cuisine. Here, we offer our guests national dish Khinkali, various kinds of soups, shared plates, etc.
The design of the restaurant was developed in accordance with its name, ‘Ubani’ (‘Neighborhood’). The entire atmosphere and interior will definitely make you feel like you’re in one of the old districts of the city and will bring you closer to the authentic spirit of a Tbilisian neighborhood.
The design of the restaurant was created by the prominent Georgian designer Tina Dzirkvadze, while the entrance was painted and decorated by street artist Luka Manjgaladze. Thanks to their work, even minor details here will bring you back to a beloved and warm environment.
The location itself is very convenient for both tourists and local visitors, as it is in the central part of the city, on the road to/from the airport, so that one can bring their foreign guests here directly from the airport at any time.
The exact address of the venue is 29a Queen Ketevan Avenue. The restaurant has 80 seats. As already mentioned, it works 24/7, which is one of the main superiorities of Ubani.
Catering
Catering is yet another important direction of the company’s activities. It is one of m|group’s core services, while 10 years of operation counts over 1,000 events and projects.
In 2017, as part of the rebranding, the m|catering menu and assortment was completely renewed with sophisticated flavors and improved visual features.
Moreover, the company produced a special line for children - m|kids, which is created with kids’ favorite products.
Our slogan is ‘No Event is too Small or too Large,’ which means that our service can fit any customer demand and events of any scale, not only in Tbilisi but in the regions as well. For instance, we hosted Ennio Morricone’s concert at the Black Sea Arena and other important events in urban areas.
Another important division of m|catering is industrial catering, with a capacity of up to 1,000 persons served per day; one of the recent examples of which was catering for the “Fast and Furious 9” shooting crew. Our company has a lot of experience in this field. The office is located in Tbilisi, at 40 Chantladze Street.
Ana: Apart from restaurants, m|group also manages the Hotel ‘Kvareli Lake Resort’ in the heart of Kakheti, one of the most beautiful regions of Georgia. To the east of the small town of Kvareli, beneath the southern slope of the Great Caucasus Mountains, Kvareli Lake Resort spreads over 300 hectares of beautiful natural landscape.
In addition to the original 20-room Building A, in September 2019, the resort opened Building B. It has 41 comfortable rooms offering amazing views of Kakheti. It is also noteworthy that the new hotel is adapted to persons with disabilities.
Building B was designed by the Architectural company Dmark, while the interior of the lobby belongs to the well-known Georgian artist Nino Chubinishvili, aka Chubika, so the beauty of both interior and exterior of the resort perfectly matches.
The virgin forest surrounding the resort, the lake in front, the vast Alazani valley behind and large hotel rooms, each equipped with small terrace and beautiful panoramic views, make Kvareli Lake Resort a unique place to stay.
In addition to high quality service, amazing views and a restaurant with a Georgian menu, the hotel offers a well-equipped conference room for 120 people, with the opportunity of simultaneous interpretation, which makes it a perfect place for business events.
Kvareli Lake Resort contributes to promoting a healthy lifestyle. The resort offers holidaymakers various activities for relaxation and entertainment, including boat trips, fishing, and cycling. So it makes the perfect destination to have an unforgettable time in a calm environment with your loved ones.
Of course, our activities are aimed at promoting the tourism sector and contributing to the economic development of Georgia; however, we are equally focused on foreign and local customers, not only on tourists. Each customer’s opinion and needs, regardless of their nationality, is of utmost importance for our team. Creating a pleasant and warm environment and gifting them memorable, happy moments in life is our main goal.
As for the future plans of the m|group, the company representatives prefer it to be a surprise for customers; however, they claim that there are many pleasant novelties and projects planned for 2020, and the entire team of the company will spare no effort to implement them successfully.
+995 032 2 30 30 30
info@mgroup.ge
www.mgroup.ge